1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of agriculture and more particularly to a method and system for providing agricultural pesticide information and advice, and for facilitating the purchase of pesticide products.
2) Description of the Related Art
As used herein, the term “agricultural products” is understood to refer generally to pesticide products and fertilizers, including specifically but without limitation, regulated pesticide and fertilizer products.
Though often misunderstood to refer only to insecticides, the term “pesticide” also applies to herbicides, fungicides, and various other substances used to control pests. As broadly used herein, pests include insects, mice and other animals, unwanted plants (weeds), fungi, or microorganisms like bacteria and viruses. Pesticides are useful to society because of their ability to kill potential disease-causing organisms, control insects, weeds, and other pests. At the same time, by their very nature, most pesticides create some risk of harm to humans, animals, or the environment because they are designed to kill or adversely affect living organisms.
Accordingly, in many countries, the sale and/or use of pesticides is regulated by various government agencies.
Within the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) provides a federal or national level of regulation of pesticide products. The EPA defines a pesticide as any substance or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying, repelling or mitigating any pest. Under United States law, a pesticide is also any substance or mixture of substances intended for use as a plant regulator, defoliant, or desiccant. Drugs used to control diseases of humans or animals (such as livestock and pets) are not legally considered pesticides. Fertilizers, nutrients, and other substances used to promote plant survival and health are not considered plant growth regulators and thus are not pesticides.
The EPA regulates pesticides by developing and implementing policies which require testing to assess pesticide safety, as well as requiring registration and proper labeling of pesticides. The EPA further maintains a database of federally registered pesticide products and assigns an EPA identification code (EPA ID) to each federally registered pesticide product. For each federally registered pesticide product, the EPA database includes the EPA ID, pesticide type (e.g., herbicide, fungicide, insecticide, disinfectant, etc.), and a list of active ingredients in the pesticide product.
Also, for certain restricted use pesticide (RUP) products, the federal government requires each state to license all dealers and applicators. RUP products may not be legally sold to or used by individuals who are not licensed. Similarly, RUP products may only be sold within a state by a dealer which has been licensed in the state. Generally, these RUP products include pesticides intended for widespread agricultural or industrial use and which may, if used improperly, present a serious threat to public health and/or the environment.
The states, on a state-by-state basis, provide a second level of regulation of pesticides by requiring approval for the sales and use of pesticides. Different states have their own procedures for approval and registration of pesticide products. Also, various states require all dealers and applicators of certain state restricted use pesticide (S-RUP) products and state limited use products (SLUP) to be licensed. Generally, these S-RUP and SLUP products include pesticides intended to address a specific crop or problem in a specific area and which may, if used improperly, present a serious threat to public health and/or the environment. SLUP are products which may be sold like general use products if the individual container size is less than 32 oz's, however if the container is larger than that, then it is to be treated like a state restricted use product (S-RUP).
Such products may not be legally sold to or used by unlicenced individuals within these states. Moreover, some state's laws specify that such products may not be “offered for sale” to or by unlicenced persons, which means a license validation process has to take place before the buyer is shown a list of products.
There are several problems in the current processes used by farmers and other pesticide users for selecting pesticide products for use on their property and crops, and then for purchasing the selected pesticide products. Some of these problems also extend to the process of selecting and purchasing fertilizer products.
For one thing, it is difficult if not impossible for a farmer to optimize the selection and application of pesticide products to his/her crops in a way to maximize revenues. A variety of factors come into play, including the pest to be controlled, the price of the pesticide, the amount of pesticide to be applied per acre, the expected crop yields with and without pesticide application, the market price for the crops, etc. Moreover, many of these factors are dynamic in nature, changing from time to time.
Also, it is desirable for farmers and other agricultural pesticide applicators to be able to purchase pesticide products via the Internet. As noted above, the various states each separately regulate pesticide products sold and used within their borders. In the case of RUP, S-RUP, and SLUP products, the states also restrict the sale and use of these products so that they may only be sold to or used by licensed individuals. However, there is currently no efficient method for an Internet pesticide retailer to check whether a pesticide product is licensed for use within a jurisdiction (e.g., a state), or whether a prospective purchaser is licensed to purchase and use a RUP product in the state or other geographical region or jurisdiction where the product is being purchased. Also, in the case of an Internet auction site, there is no efficient method to validate a seller as licensed to deal in the state where a product is being sold. Thus, RUP products are being sold over the Internet to unlicenced individuals, creating a serious risk of harm to the public and/or the environment and in violation of state law.